chris watton

Hi Jax, Yes, the sausage dogs are still here, all present and correct!

Thank you guys for the replies, all are very much appreciated (just got back from work..) OK, I plan to work on the Alert cutter first, followed by a mid-18th century brig, heavy frigate ( I have three frigates in mind altogether) and then a very nice looking 5th rate. That is as far as I can go at the moment. I have found a laser cutting company in the UK, and have plenty of viable options for the PE work. Will probably end up selling my car to invest further if the first model does OK. Not sure how to go about getting the 'off the shelf' fittings like blocks, rigging, ladders etc. yet... The models with gun ports will have the new way of incorporating the gun port frames into the hull, like Victory and Bellona - I was never 100% happy with the pre cut gun port patterns as you only have to get one side slightly off and nothing will line up properly, plus you then have to build up the inner edges to simulate the correct thickness of each port. I first did the pre-cut patterns for gun ports on the Cruiser 20 years ago! It will add cost to the kits, as there is a lot more laser cutting and a lot more parts involved, but at least I know that every kit will have their gun ports always in their correct positions. About the Chinese and copying stuff, not much I can do about that, except not sell anything to them! Hollowneck, I received your message, thank you, I will have a good read of that tomorrow (or later today), when I am less tired. Cheers, Chris

Hi Jan, I did state that I want to develop subjects that I like and have always wanted to design and build, at least for now. If I started off by doing obscure subjects I have little interest in, then I would be putting myself in the same position as I was before, working for someone else. The problem with later period ships of the Nineteenth Century is the fact that most are just plain dull by comparison to their earlier relatives (more functional). Plus there is still a rich vein of subjects to tap into from the 17th and 18th Centuries. I think there is a lack of steam ship/transition model kits for a reason, they do not sell, not attractive enough to most, I guess. I don't mind smaller scales, as using PE, they can be as detailed as something twice the scale, but there is little difference in production costs in 2 different size kits with the same amount of detail, as cutting times and materials are roughly the same. So, if you see, say, a frigate of the same type in two different sizes and both cost roughly the same, which one will most always go for? I guess you could dumb the kit down to make if cheaper, but then what separates your products from everyone else's? We are a niche within a niche, and have to chose carefully... Cheers, Chris

Yes, that was the last model I developed fully for Amati, I figured it would compliment their Bounty. Please take note, I have no further dealings with Amati, so have as much clue as anyone else regarding release dates of their kits. For the cutter kit, should it be named Alert or Sprightly?

You may be right, it is about the same length as Victory isn't it, and that model in 64th is an absolute behemoth! Anyway, I intend to focus on British subjects for the first lot..

I think that would be quite popular, I have the Anatomy of the Ship book for that, may have a set of plans for it too, given to me by a friend in the US.

Cheers I had considered a Leda class frigate, but decided on another class of heavy frigate due to the abundance of research material available (and I like the name). If things go well, I may end up doing quite a few classes of frigate, as they're great for the (competent) novice, intermediate and expert alike. But am getting ahead of myself, the plans I already have haven't been scanned and put onto my thumb drive yet..

I have no idea, I have no contact with Amati now, so could not tell what's going on with that kit. My wife suggested that, I have done that for Black Pearl and a large Elizabethan galleon I did for Hachette - so that's possible. I would need to have at least a dozen of my own kits out before even thinking about conversion kits. Are there any decent drawings for Nonsuch? If things work out, I would love to do a Royal George (1740's). A nice period, not too gaudy and not too plain..

Thank you, I would think that doing a cutter or similar would be a good idea as one of the initial kits. I have a lot of info for the cutter Alert, but that is clinker planked, but I guess if it were aimed more at a beginner, carvel planked would be OK (and the people that are more experienced could do the clinker planking). Just a though..

Thanks guys, really appreciate the positive comments - at one point I did wonder if I wanted to design anything again! I now know it is period ships I enjoy designing and building the most, so I guess I'll stick with that. I have my copies of several ship lines plans being digitised right now, should be ready in a couple of days for me to pick up. I will probably start with something more simple, and then something larger and more involved. I will keep you updated - I have been away for a while because I was simply burnt out with designing, more significantly, designing stuff I have zero interest in. Needed a little time to re-evaluate what I was going to do. The conclusion is that, I know how to design these things with my eyes closed, so why not design subjects I enjoy the most, and then hopefully sell them to like-minded modellers. Cheers, Chris

Thank you! It is both exciting and scary at the same time...

Hi, It has been a long time, but thought I would update you all. I no longer work for Amati, I finished in May this year (No animosity involved). I currently work part time for a prototype model company and also do some work for Sergio Marletti, the man I connected with so well when he was design manager at Amati. After some thought and a five month break, I am thinking about designing my own model range of period ships under a new kit range name. I will only design what I think people will like (and me, of course), and will make them as detailed as possible. I have received plans from the NMM for several subjects that piqued my interest, so very early days.

For a first wooden ship build, you are doing a stunning job. Very well done, it looks great!

I am not offering the 1765 version of the kit. I don't think I have ever stated I was. The truth is that if that version was offered, no matter how much aesthetically pleasing it would look, it would not sell well enough to justify the extra development costs. Anyway, I have been working on Prince, and while waiting for the new carvings to arrive, I made up the new spiral staircases. The old ones were Amati fittings, and each set was exactly the same. I designed the new sets to reflect the ones on the Science Museum contemporary model, with the correct number of steps and decoration for the side rails (laser cut and PE parts). Everything on the deck is dry-fitted only, and nothing is finished or varnished yet..

OK, I asked Amati about the Rob Roy (Scottish fishing vessel), and it is almost ready for release: Very early next year, January or February they hope.

It should be, I finished that ages ago! I will ask next week.

Hi Kevin, No, it was a commission for Krick, who was at the time, a German distributer. It was just a bog-standard Panart kit. This was 6 years before I started to design the 72nd scale Victory (I left before the model was finished, but most of the designs were already done, IIRC). I didn't design Diana until 1998, which was the first wooden kit.

I don't know if I have ever posted the following pics before, and they're not very good being scans. The Sovereign of the Seas was the 4th wooden model I had built at this time (1992, in my early 20's)! I remember saving each week until I could afford it, and went off to the model shop to buy it (£547). I have always loved the lines of the 17th Century ships, and planned to go to town on this model. The base model was fine, but the wales did not strictly follow the ones above, and I know the top of the bulwarks curved more or less the same as the wales, so much kit-bashing ensued, and I did what I could for a relative beginner (before this I had started out with a Billings Will Everard, then a Billings Bounty, which just had a block of wood supplied for the single boat, with the modeller expected to carve it out him/herself. I then built the new kit (at the time) Superb, a Mantua kit, followed by Sergel's SOTS). I think it took me a year and a half in my spare time, but I loved doing all of the research and righting the wrongs of the kit, the stern and rigging especially. I am sure I used only 50% of the supplied castings which were, on the whole, terrible and required much fettling to make them fit perfectly. Those are the only pictures I have of this model, I just remember really enjoying the build and research process. This was the first Victory I made, it was for Krick in Germany in 1995, so they had a display model of the then new Panart 78th scale Victory, so I couldn't change it that much. Again, they are scans, so quality is shocking... Can't believe that was over 20 years ago, where does the time go!

Excellent work, very neat! I have always liked this kit, and from a period rarely covered.

Thanks again, guys I am not sure if I have already posted these, but here are the new cast cannons I used for Victory. These are exactly the same that will go into every kit: And here are the 4 turned brass masters that I turned, making sure they fit as they should before posting them over to Amati, to be used as masters for the castings: Oh, and I absolutely love this large model of the Victory as built, which I took when visiting the Victory in Portsmouth to get loads of pictures of the real thing to help me with some of the the more fuzzy detail : I also took a lot of photos of the stern, and added them into my CAD program. I then scaled the pictures to 64th and traced around the decoration, so it should be as accurate as it can be, with all parts the correct sizes and shapes (at least, for the decoration on the stern on the Victory as she is now..)

Me too! I have always said that I design the kits how I would like to build them, just from a modeller's perspective. Because of this, they do take longer to develop than bog standard 'block model' kits, but I hope are more fun to make. I admit that my favoured material for castings, especially for large stern and figurehead decoration, is resin - much easier to bend/manipulate and sand/file. The only castings that are on Victory are the figurehead parts, the stern and side galleries are pre-cut wood and photo-etched parts. I prefer this as I know that every photo etched part will be exactly the same as I used for the prototype, no shrinkage and nothing malformed like you can get with cast parts, plus I can draw the minutest detail for the etched decoration. I have mentioned before that even all of the gratings are PE so that I could make each grating the exact scale size, and not have the size of the 'off the shelf' gratings dictate the size of the hatch opening. The quarterdeck gratings have a slight taper, which is also reproduced in the etched gratings. Chris

I actually turned the 4 sizes of cannon barrels myself, on my lathe from brass to fit the scale carriages. these will be cast metal in the kit and specific to the Victory kit. The blocks/deadeyes will be standard and are perfectly acceptable in my view. Higher quality wooden blocks made from boxwood by more specialist small companies are a) prohibitively expensive and no small scale manufacturer could produce the amount of blocks required for a kit like Victory. I have always used Amati thread for the rigging and have never found any problems with it. What you see on my prototype model of Victory are the cast cannons specific to the model, standard Amati blocks and deadeyes, and standard Amati rigging thread (as well as standard wood strip stock, the same that's used in all Amati kits). I have never used any 'special' materials or fittings when building the prototypes, but always standard stock. If no standard fittings will do, or I do not think will be good enough (whether slightly wrong in size or not enough detail), I will make brand new masters. That's the way it has always been.

Hi Glenn, Ah, that little area. I am sure I did the same as you. With hindsight I should have added them as pre-cut parts, but the trouble with small curved parts like that, when pre-cut from thick natural wood is that they have a tendancy to break very easily. With that in mind, using a small length of scrap wood strip may be less of a headache. I usually pre-soak the strip and then manipulate the curve using my finger or pair of pliers. If it's stubbern I use heat (holding the bend over a gas hob) I think Revenge is out, and I am sure Victory will not be too long now - although that is a monster of a model... Nice work on your vanguard, by the way, very neat and very clean.

Hi Glenn, What curved rails do you mean? I know there is a curved capping for the end of the poop upper rail on the 5mm walnut sheet, but I am not sure where you mean for the others. Chris

Thank you - there was a time when I thought I'd never finish Victory, was beginning to give me nightmares! I did actually weigh the Victory model when at Amati. I believe it came in at around 8kg. I thought it would be heavier. This was the completed model, without the superfluous material (and plans and instructions) that comes with the kit, so perhaps the actual kit box would weigh well over 14kg.